Suddenly
by Redd
Summary: Suddenly, loving Samantha Carter didn’t seem so hard. *Continuum Spoilers!*


A/n: I don't own, so please don't sue. You guys know the drill.

So I saw Continuum, and I refuse to get into the I liked it/I didn't like it debate. I liked it. I liked what they did with the Characters. It was interesting to see them all in a different light. I have every intention of doing a series of Tags or drabbles, at least for Sam, Daniel and Cameron. Teal'c and Vala will follow, I'm sure.

So this it my take on the Alternate Timeline Jack, because that was damned interesting, even if he did call Sam paperwork.

* * *

Jack O'Neill was not a simple man, despite the dumb act he frequently played anyone who knew him could tell that it was just that

Jack O'Neill was not a simple man, despite the dumb act he frequently played anyone who knew him could tell that it was just that. An act.

After more than thirty years of being an officer, of Special Forces training he liked to think that he was rather good a reading people. Even these…people who claimed to be from Earth, just not this Earth. He knew the technical crap that Carter had spouted at him had been true to a degree, and it wasn't even that he didn't believe them, because he did.

He knew they were telling the truth.

Because that wasn't the Samantha Carter he'd known. Oh, she was brilliant and beautiful just the way he remembered. But the Samantha Carter of his reality was dead.

He knew because Charlie _had_ accidentally shot himself, but _his_ son was fine. Obviously the other Jack's wasn't.

He knew because when he'd taken Charlie to Kennedy she had been there.

He knew because he'd watched every horrifying second of her death, of the _Intrepid_'s demise.

She was a good astronaut, he knew that, too. Because when Charlie had decided to become an astronaut himself at seventeen, they had just been getting ready to launch the Intrepid. So he'd taken his son down to Kennedy Space Center and he'd pulled some stings and he'd met the young Samantha Carter, however by stroke of luck or accident it had happened.

Charlie'd been smitten with her almost instantly and it was something that Jack realized he could understand completely. He'd been more wary though, she was, after all, a scientist.

"_Don't worry, Sir, you really will like me once you get to know me."_

Oh, how right she'd been.

She had been more than accommodating, showing him control panels, taking him for a trip in the Zero Grav room and discussing things that Jack himself had never imagined in his dizziest daydreams. He remembered her bright eyes eye, just shining with enthusiasm, and a brilliant, mega-watt smile that had stolen Jack's breath.

He had loved his wife, had loved Sara since before he could remember, but they had been over for years. The kept in touch and had even become friendly in recent years, but she'd never quite forgiven him for Charlie's near-death. He'd sworn he was done with relationships. Who would put up with an old warhorse like him anyway? Still, there was just something about this woman that had just made him feel at ease around her and he got the feeling that he wasn't the only man that felt that way. She just radiated a warmth and an understanding of something so much bigger than themselves that he had to wonder if maybe she was an angel.

He had thought, even back then, in the warm Florida sun, that she would have made an excellent officer, a good commander, and that maybe, if she'd open her eyes, she'd make a good wife and an excellent mother. He'd never say it out loud, certainly not to her, certainly not after only having known her for some of the morning, the afternoon and most of the evening. He didn't _think_ his feelings towards her were at all romantic but he had the sinking suspicion that if he spent too much more time with her that they just might be.

Being with her, being confused by her techno babble, listening to her voice, watching her smile, just _being_ at ease with someone, he couldn't help but feel that maybe he was supposed to know her, to be her friend if nothing else. Before they'd left, she'd confessed that she felt something similar, bolder than he imagined she would be, that she'd like for them to be friends.

Friends, with Samantha Carter. Yeah, he'd smiled; he liked the sound of that.

So they kept in touch, hell, even Sara had liked her, writing letters, talking on the phone for hours on end until his phone bill had been astronomical. She sent Charlie all the information she could to help him with NASA, along with pictures of things like black holes and solar flares that each quickly earned a place on his wall next a picture of her.

Yes, his son had it bad. He was sure he did too.

Six months later, she was dead and Charlie hadn't been the only heartbroken O'Neill in their house.

He'd gone to her memorial service, on the front lawn of the White House, and he had believed that it had been fitting for her. He'd had a dozen roses sent to her family and the wreath had been at her service. He'd even called Sara and asked her what kind that they should be. Three pink, Sara had said, for admiration, because the men in Sara's life had indeed admired this woman. Three yellow, for the still too new friendship that they had begun. Three white, for remembrance, because he was sure he'd never forget her.

When he walked past her empty coffin he'd placed two more roses upon it. One red, like he'd promised Charlie he'd do. Charlie, who had been at home watching the entire service with his mother. Jack knew, in his own way, that Charlie had loved Samantha Carter, and that he wasn't the only one. The final rose had been lavender. He'd been picking up the red one and it had caught his eye. The woman at the shop said that it meant enchantment and was frequently used to symbolize love at first sight.

He'd bought the rose immediately. She sure as hell had enchanted him and a small part of him had wondered if maybe he was just the tiniest bit in love with her.

When he'd seen this Samantha Carter, the Samantha Carter who _wasn't_ his, with eyes bright at the sight of _him_, of all people, he couldn't help but smile. There was the quirky woman he'd known all those years ago. But she wasn't the woman he had known and he was horribly reminded of that when he'd called them paperwork. She'd looked so heartbroken, so lost and lonely, that he'd had to leave with a bark at Daniel Jackson, for fear of _hugging_ her.

He was Colonel Jack O'Neill. He didn't _do_ hugs. Especially not for dead astronauts.

Jack knew, of course, why Daniel had started to plead with him-it had been for _her_. His rejection of them, of her, had hurt her, he could see it. Daniel hadn't been pleading with him as _his_ friend; he'd been doing it as _hers_.

He knew they didn't belong in this reality because she _loved_ him.

And if her reaction was anything to go by, he'd loved her as well.

Suddenly, loving Samantha Carter didn't seem so hard.

* * *

You guys know what isn't mine, but I had to use that line, I _had_ to. It was just so perfect for Sam. Let me know what you think!


End file.
